§ MR. MCCRAE (Edinburgh, E.)I beg to ask Mr. Chancellor of the Exchequer if he can state whether the final instalments of the Chancery Fund Annuities of £2,943,370 a year and of the Converted Annuities of £684,000 a year fall to be i paid in the financial year 1904–5 or in 1905–6; and whether it is proposed to follow the Budget precedent of 1899 in anticipating the falling in of these annuities I by a proportionate reduction of the Sinking Fund contribution for redemption of the National Debt.
§ MR. AUSTEN CHAMBERLAINThe Chancery Funds Annuity was readjusted last year and its amount is now £2,324,516. The final instalment is payable in July, 1906. The final instalment of the Converted Annuities is payable in February, 1906. I have no announcement to make at this stage as to financial arrangements for the future.